Everything to know about the new Apple iOS 18.4

Apple recently released the second beta of iOS 18.4, introducing some exciting new features that will soon be available for all iPhone users. The lack of many Apple Intelligence features is one of the growing complaints of many iPhone users, and the tech giant is finally addressing this. Apple Intelligence is getting a big boost to its features and capabilities, among other things.

In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about the upcoming Apple iOS 18.4, including its possible release date.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions.

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What's new in the Apple iOS 18.4 update?

Apple released a total of two beta updates for the iOS 18.4 version, and both brought a staggering number of new features for iOS users to explore. In fact, the iOS 18.4 version is shaping up to be even bigger than the iOS 18.3 update, which was released at the end of January 2025.

1) New emojis

Emojis in iOS 18 (Image via Apple)

Apple is introducing eight new emojis in the iOS 18.4 update, including a tired expression that users love. These eight new emojis are part of the Unicode 16.0 release, which will be adopted by other OS as well.

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2) Priority notifications with Apple Intelligence

Apple first introduced Priority notifications in the iOS 18.4 Beta 1 update, where it uses Apple Intelligence to sort the notification stack based on their priority. For example, notifications related to calls, texts, and emails will sit on top if you enable this feature, and everything else will be below them based on their priority.

This feature is further expanded to allow users to set which apps can take priority and which can't.

3) Sketch Mode in Image Playground

The Image Playground is an image-generation tool that can create images with just a few prompts. The feature is now expanded to include sketches. Image Playground will now be able to generate sketches that you usually see in class notebooks.

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4) Subscription & Payments menu in Wallet

Apple has created a dedicated Subscription & Payments menu in Wallet to manage all your subscriptions in one place easily. The caveat is that only subscriptions paid through Apple Wallet or Apple Pay will appear here. If you paid for any subscriptions with credit cards, they won't show up in the Wallet app.

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5) Siri & Apple Intelligence in Control Panel & Action Button

The Apple Intelligence-powered Siri is available on all modern Apple devices (Image via Apple)

The Siri and Apple Intelligence controls can now be added directly to the Control Center. There are three controls that you can add:

• Talk to Siri
• Type to Siri
• Visual Intelligence

The Visual Intelligence control can also be added to the Action Button for an instant response when you need to learn about a particular location or object.

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6) Ambient music in the Control Panel

Many users listen to ambient music when working, playing, or reading a book. Usually, this requires launching Apple Music or Spotify to get the sessions going, but that won't be necessary anymore. You can add ambient music control in the Control Center and start your music session in two steps. Tap on Ambient Music and select which type of mood you would like to be in.

The options are:

• Sleep
• Chill
• Productivity
• Wellbeing

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7) Recipes in the Apple News app

Apple News Plus subscription users have access to news and articles from many popular publications, along with daily puzzles to interact and play. However, a new section called Recipes will be added to the Apple News app for subscribers. Major food recipe publications like Good Food, Food & Wine, and more can show you all the hottest recipes.

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8) AI-based Siri can learn more about your app usage

The new SIri user interface (Image via Apple)

Siri can learn more about the system apps you use, like Mail or iMessage, and suggest some actions based on the app. For example, if you launch the Mail app and ask Siri, "What can I do in this app?" Siri will show a few options, like "Create a new email," "Check for unread emails," and more.

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9) A dedicated Apple Vision Pro app

With the iOS 18.4 update, a dedicated Apple Vision Pro app will be added to your iPhone, where you can learn and discover what Vision Pro is and what it can do for you. You can also view what content would look best on the Vision Pro. You can even learn more about your own Vision Pro if it's tied to the same Apple account.

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10) New animations for skip/rewind buttons during video playback

When playing videos on Safari or Apple TV, the skip/rewind buttons on the video player will have new animations. The skip button now features a clockwise rotation animation, while the rewind button has an anti-clockwise rotation. This feature was discovered by X user @aaronp613.

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11) Apple Intelligence is launching in more regions and languages

Apple Intelligence will expand to more languages, including Japanese, French, and Spanish. Users in the EU will also be able to access Apple Intelligence for the first time with the iOS 18.4 update.

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Other changes in the Apple iOS 18.4 update

Other notable changes in the new iOS 18.4 update include:

• Updates to existing system apps
• Improvements in the Apple Intelligence model
• Updated SDKs
• Bug fixes
• Security patches

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When will the Apple iOS 18.4 update possibly be released?

Usually, Apple releases around four betas and a release candidate (RC) update before a final release. The second beta update was released on March 3, 2025, so users can expect the third and the fourth to come out in the next two weeks, followed by an RC release. Therefore, the final stable release of iOS 18.4 could happen during the last week of March or the first week of April 2025.